The most important thing we can do today
It seems that so much of our life depends upon how prepared we are for certain tasks or situations. It’s safe to say that preparation is really practice in disguise. The more one prepares for things the more he has to practice, that is, the more he is able to put into use what he’s learning. Jonas Salk once said, “The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more."
Putting into practice what we’ve learned takes dedication and patience. This preparation and practice helps us combat inharmony with the poise of Christ. We are then unaffected by setbacks and can rise to dissolve all unlike God, good, with the power of Christ, Truth.
Christ Jesus, our Ensample, prepared for his practice. He often went to the mountains to pray, literally and figuratively -- to get spiritually refreshed for upcoming events. He wasn’t merely avoiding the crowd. He was bigger than that. He was looking away from materiality, communing with God. Jesus’ time in the mountains enabled him to get clear glimpses of who he was and what he was to do. He was wise in knowing that communion with God was the most important thing he could do for himself and for others. (It's the most important thing we can do today, as well.) Jesus knew that understanding his oneness with his Maker would help him fulfill his mission.
We can also understand our oneness with our Maker and fulfill our mission. If we don’t overlook the value of systematic, dedicated, disciplined, study we can use these tools as a way to grow spiritually. This preparation and practice guides us to the kingdom of heaven, the reign of Spirit, God, right here within our heart and soul.
In Miscellaneous Writings, Mrs. Eddy asks and answers a pertinent question when she writes, “What is it that seems a stone between us and the resurrection morning?" And she answers, "It is the belief of mind in matter." And, she explains, "We can only come into the spiritual resurrection by quitting the old consciousness...” (179:19).
So, the stone that appears to be between us and our healing, our peace, our health is the belief of a mind in matter, of intelligence, substance, life in the non-intelligent.
Quitting the old consciousness means to cease looking into open sepulchres for comfort or peace. What are these open sepulchres anyway? Aren't they whatever we may imagine them to be? We might ask our self quietly what are the open sepulchres that try to attract and distract my thought away from God? And it would be good to follow with the question, Do I believe that these open sepulchres can be closed forever through the laws of God?
Can we trust God enough to guide me away from the open wounds of bad relationships, failing careers, frail health, lack of time, disinterest in the things of Spirit, and all the commotions of a belief in a mortal life? Yes, we can!
Our resurrection dawns when we put off the old consciousness of material thinking and put on the spiritual understanding that man, the ideal of Truth, has never dwelt in a sepulchre. When we go from fear to understanding, hatred to love, anxiety to peace, we are putting off the old consciousness and putting on the new. We do this through communion with God, just as Christ Jesus did it.
Mrs. Eddy explains, "Divine Love eventually causes mortals to turn away from the open sepulchres of sin, and look no more into them as realities” (Misc. 292:14).
Divine Love, God, causes. Divine Love causes mortals to turn away from material thinking with its fears and to look above and beyond funereal scenes to Spirit, God, and His idea, man, -- made in God's image
Thoreau once wrote, “That day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star” (Walden). Jesus, disciples found that there was more day to dawn as they spiritually awoke to Jesus’ resurrection. Once they understood that all that Jesus, had said, all that he did, was true, they redoubled their efforts and persevered. They continued to seek their own resurrection. And in the process they taught others how to gain theirs.
It’s a noteworthy moment in our experience when we recognize, as Mary recognized, -- the risen Christ. We, too, will then say will all exultation, “Rabonni.”
As the disciples of old walked with the risen Lord, it’s recorded that their hearts burned within them. And this what happens as we speak with and listen to the guiding Christ. Our hearts burn within us. We find our thoughts are kindled with the truth of our being, as God made us. This kindling is just the beginning of our walk heavenward. Soon, after much dedication and steadfastness, we find the flames of Truth a full-blown fire - unquenchable. We find them consuming material fears and leaving behind the pure gold of man’s spiritual selfhood.
This is the most important thing we can do today!
It seems that so much of our life depends upon how prepared we are for certain tasks or situations. It’s safe to say that preparation is really practice in disguise. The more one prepares for things the more he has to practice, that is, the more he is able to put into use what he’s learning. Jonas Salk once said, “The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more."
Putting into practice what we’ve learned takes dedication and patience. This preparation and practice helps us combat inharmony with the poise of Christ. We are then unaffected by setbacks and can rise to dissolve all unlike God, good, with the power of Christ, Truth.
Christ Jesus, our Ensample, prepared for his practice. He often went to the mountains to pray, literally and figuratively -- to get spiritually refreshed for upcoming events. He wasn’t merely avoiding the crowd. He was bigger than that. He was looking away from materiality, communing with God. Jesus’ time in the mountains enabled him to get clear glimpses of who he was and what he was to do. He was wise in knowing that communion with God was the most important thing he could do for himself and for others. (It's the most important thing we can do today, as well.) Jesus knew that understanding his oneness with his Maker would help him fulfill his mission.
We can also understand our oneness with our Maker and fulfill our mission. If we don’t overlook the value of systematic, dedicated, disciplined, study we can use these tools as a way to grow spiritually. This preparation and practice guides us to the kingdom of heaven, the reign of Spirit, God, right here within our heart and soul.
In
Miscellaneous Writings,
Mrs. Eddy asks and answers a pertinent question when she writes, “What is it that seems a stone between us and the resurrection morning?" And she answers, "It is the belief of mind in matter." And, she explains, "We can only come into the spiritual resurrection by quitting the old consciousness...” (179:19).
So, the stone that appears to be between us and our healing, our peace, our health is the belief of a mind in matter, of intelligence, substance, life in the non-intelligent.
Quitting the old consciousness means to cease looking into open sepulchres for comfort or peace. What are these open sepulchres anyway? Aren't they whatever we may imagine them to be? We might ask our self quietly what are the open sepulchres that try to attract and distract my thought away from God? And it would be good to follow with the question, Do I believe that these open sepulchres can be closed forever through the laws of God?
Can we trust God enough to guide me away from the open wounds of bad relationships, failing careers, frail health, lack of time, disinterest in the things of Spirit, and all the commotions of a belief in a mortal life? Yes, we can!
Our resurrection dawns when we put off the old consciousness of material thinking and put on the spiritual understanding that man, the ideal of Truth, has never dwelt in a sepulchre. When we go from fear to understanding, hatred to love, anxiety to peace, we are putting off the old consciousness and putting on the new. We do this through communion with God, just as Christ Jesus did it.
Mrs. Eddy explains, "Divine Love eventually causes mortals to turn away from the open sepulchres of sin, and look no more into them as realities” (Misc. 292:14).
Divine Love, God, causes. Divine Love causes mortals to turn away from material thinking with its fears and to look above and beyond funereal scenes to Spirit, God, and His idea, man, -- made in God's image
Thoreau once wrote, “That day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star” (Walden). Jesus, disciples found that there was more day to dawn as they spiritually awoke to Jesus’ resurrection. Once they understood that all that Jesus, had said, all that he did, was true, they redoubled their efforts and persevered. They continued to seek their own resurrection. And in the process they taught others how to gain theirs.
It’s a noteworthy moment in our experience when we recognize, as Mary recognized, -- the risen Christ. We, too, will then say will all exultation, “Rabonni.”
As the disciples of old walked with the risen Lord, it’s recorded that their hearts burned within them. And this what happens as we speak with and listen to the guiding Christ. Our hearts burn within us. We find our thoughts are kindled with the truth of our being, as God made us. This kindling is just the beginning of our walk heavenward. Soon, after much dedication and steadfastness, we find the flames of Truth a full-blown fire - unquenchable. We find them consuming material fears and leaving behind the pure gold of man’s spiritual selfhood.
This is the most important thing we can do today!
